GOOD HOPE, Ala. – Good Hope took on Ashville in a rematch Wednesday afternoon for the Class 4A, Area 12 championship and a big third inning was the key for the Lady Raiders as they wound up pulling away 9-3 capture the title.
Good Hope struck first in their opening at-bats. Morgan Goodwin led off the inning with a triple, then a one-out RBI double by Skylar Tucker put the Lady Raiders on the scoreboard. With two outs, Sidnie English lined an RBI single to center field to make it a 2-0 score. Ashville got on the scoreboard in the top of the second with an RBI double and they took the lead in the next inning on a 2-run home run.
Good Hope re-took the lead in their half. Jacqueline Hays hit a one-out single, then Skylar Tucker doubled. A two-run double by Bailey Swann gave the Lady Raiders a 4-3 lead, then she scored on an Ashville error. Another error and a walk loaded up the bases for Bekah Norris, who drew a walk of her own to increase their lead to 6-3. Kailee Shikle made it 7-3 on a sacrifice fly, then Tucker added one of her own in the fourth inning. Goodwin added an RBI single in the fifth to make it 9-3, and English worked around a two-out walk to record the final out for Good Hope as they clinched the Class 4A, Area 12 championship.
Tucker, Swann, Goodwin, English and Shikle earned spots on the All-Area team as well.
English completely shut down the Lady Bulldog offense after fourth inning, allowing just one base runner the rest of the way. She pitched a complete game and allowed seven hits and three runs, walked three and struck out six. Tucker finished the game with two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. Swann added a hit, two RBIs and a run scored, Goodwin ended up with three hits, an RBI and two runs scored, English (one run scored) and Norris each added a hit and an RBI while Shikle collected an RBI of her own.
The Lady Raiders will advance to play in the West Regional tournament in Tuscaloosa next weekend at Bowers Park.
Holly Pond 17 – Brindlee Mountain 8 (Tuesday night)
The Lady Broncos lit up the scoreboard late Tuesday night to advance past Brindlee Mountain in this year’s 3A Area 13 tournament, racking up 17 runs in the win.
Nearly every player in the lineup finished with multiple hits, led by Madison Heatherly who racked up four hits in the win, including a home run. Lexy Smith and Taylor Simmons each collected three hits and Kaylee Stallings, Ciera James, Emili Perry, Madyson Rickman and Kylie Ann Perkins all finished with two hits for the Lady Broncos.
New Hope 11 – Holly Pond 1
The Lady Broncos were held to just four hits in their loss to New Hope Wednesday night but their runner-up finish in the area tournament was enough to secure a spot at this year’s regional tournament in Florence next week. Madison Heatherly finished 2-for-3 and Emili Perry and Madyson Rickman (one RBI) each added a hit as well.
Winston County 3 – Addison 2
Addison fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first and that score held most of the way until the Lady Bulldogs and Winston County both put a run on the board in the fifth to make it a 2-1 game. The Lady Yellow Jackets stretched the lead to 3-1 in the top of the sixth and Addison was able to trim the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, but they couldn’t tie it up and fell to Winston County.
Anna Grace Luker pitched a complete game for the Lady Bulldogs, allowing three runs on six hits and striking out eight batters in the loss. Destiny Walker posted two hits for Addison, Alena Howse finished with one and Sam Brannon collected an RBI.
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